Defeating the Skeleton King

I am embarrassed to admit this because I know most here probably have whooped the skeleton king many times, but I cannot beat the guy and I am not sure what the secret is. I have been using a Witch Doctor and have sent hounds after him, grasped him with the arms from the ground, and shot him with darts, but the combo of his smacking on me and his minions adding to my damage, I am unable to beat him. Any hints would be appreciated. Thanks in advance...

This feels troll, but I'd feel bad if nobody helped you and you weren't a troll.

He telegraphs all of his moves - look for animations that precede things like his Teleport Swing, and his Multi-forward-swings. When he telegraphs his Teleport Swing, start moving. It doesn't really matter where, just that you be in motion so that he teleports, swings, and misses you. Keep a safe distance from him the rest of the time, and use a potion every time you dip below 50%. There's no shame in running away for a bit if your potion is on CD and you don't want to die.

If you've only used the WD, you should know that that's probably the hardest class to do him on if you're not high enough level to have some of the less terrible skills (or less terrible rune variants). Also weapons matter a ton. Use a high dps weapon so your spells don't suck :D

if you are solo, make sure to get the templar. Also he uses a whirlwind attack, find out the animation he does before this and learn to avoid it. It can kill you in 3 shots. If you get low on hp just keep running and hitting him until either your potion cooldown is up or he spawns adds which drop health globes. If you still can not finish him off then i would suggest going back and getting to lvl 11+ or play a multiplayer round to see how others handle him.

Thank you; this is not a troll, sadly. My problem, I think, is that I try to stand in too much and not take the "flee" option. I then find that my potion timer is not finished and that it is difficult, sometimes, to wade through the enemies to reach a health globe. Also, I will have to pay more attention to the king's animations, I guess. I am usually so focused on the minions that I have not been able to pay much attention to him. Glad to hear the WD is the most difficult to win with, too. I have been leveling a Wizard in the hopes that it might be easier with him...